Four Thing Your Business Can Do That Will Make Customers Hate You

Four Thing
Your Business Can Do That Will Make Customers Hate You

 By Business Desk

 Saturday, December 9, 2017.

It’s fair to say that pleasing your customers is at
the heart of business. If you can’t make your customers feel content and
satisfied during their interactions with you, then you don’t have a viable
business. It’s largely irrelevant how good your products or how low your prices
if customers actively dislike interacting with your company.

Despite
the above, we can all recall — with very little time needed to consider the
question — an occasion when a business or store has behaved in a manner we
didn’t like when we were a customer. How are so many businesses getting it so
wrong?

The
Benefit of the Doubt

The
answer to this question is complex, and requires a few caveats. A business
owner, for example, can train their staff to behave in a certain way, but you
can’t guarantee that the staff will adhere to the suggested policies.
It’s also worth allowing a business the occasional off day; we’ve all had them,
days when nothing seems to function like it should, so we can cut a little
slack if our poor experience was a one-off event. Outside of these caveats,
however, it’s still clear just from your own experience that some businesses
are making huge errors when it comes to pleasing their customers.

So
what’s happening? Worryingly, the answer is… nothing. Few business owners know
that their method of running their business is proving problematic for
customers, because few customers will outright say it– we just move our
business elsewhere. This seems polite to the customer, but how do you, as a
business owner, feel about the idea of a customer just quietly abandoning your
business, never to return again? Not great. If you don’t know about the issues,
then you can’t fix them.

The
Know-Nothing Problem

That’s
the catch to all of this: most business owners legitimately don’t know they
are making mistakes. They have no idea that their way of business is
irritating customers; that their way of doing things is barring them from
pursuing potentially lucrative sales.

Does
that mean you, as a business owner, might be experiencing the same
issue? Is there something that your business is doing that can turn
customers to turn away? Potentially. If you recognise any of these four
behaviours as part of your business environment,
then you may want to have a rethink…

1)
Pushy Sales Tactics

Very
few customers like being sold to, especially if the technique involves a “hard
sell”. A hard sell is a pitch that is strong and forceful from beginning to
end; the end goal is not to match a customer with a suitable product or
service, but just to generate revenue.

Hard
selling tends to be successful, but the other costs are severe; a damage to
your business reputation, customers avoiding your business for fear of hard
sell tactics, and an unsustainable model. Then there is the issue that
vulnerable groups are more likely to buy into hard selling, meaning there is a
moral issue behind this tactic also. If you practice hard selling tactics, then
you might want to re-evaluate your sales strategy to protect the long-term
reputation of your business. Consulting with sales training experts
can be beneficial, allowing you to find a way of selling that will not be
detrimental to your business in the long run.

2)
Constant Upselling

Upselling
is a legitimate sales tactic, but it is also incredibly aggravating if it occurs
every time a customer comes into contact with your business. For basic
queries and customer service issues, keep the upselling to a minimum; there’s
only so much that a customer will take before they walk away.

3)
Inconsistency

Humans
are creatures of habit; we like routines, structure, and for things to remain
largely the same. If you are constantly changing essential aspects of your
business — such as opening times, returns policies, or cutting and adding
services — then customers are not going to respond well. Changes should always
be gradual; don’t keep tinkering with your business operations on a constant,
non-stop basis; customers will eventually tire of not knowing where they stand,
and they’ll go somewhere more reliable. 

4)
Spam Emails

This
one is simple: don’t send them. If you’re sending your customers or clients
marketing emails more than once a week, your chances of being consigned to the
junk folder are incredibly high. Marketing emails should always contain
relevant information and should be kept infrequent. 

In
ConclusionIf
you have been doing any of the above without realising the potential impact,
don’t fret: business owners can often miss these kinds of problems. Make the
changes you need to make and develop a consistent, pleasant approach that will always
have your customers coming back for more.